1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a metal case and, more particularly to a metal case adaptable to a lateral file or a cabinet having snap-in drawer glide and door hinge attachments, thereby providing a cost effective case construction having minimal parts and tooling requirements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern office or industrial environments require increasing storage capabilities including storage cabinets and lateral filing systems that can be multi-functional, easily interchangeable and sturdy, but also attractive and inexpensive in order to adapt to the many styles of office design.
Metal cases including storage cabinets, filing cabinets and the like are well known in the art. Cases are also known in the art that have a convertible capability between file cabinets with drawers and storage cabinets with doors. Most are constructed using an interior skeletal frame including vertical rails or channels and horizontal cross bars. However, these interior skeletal frames, which support only an exterior skin, do not provide sufficient sturdiness to prevent a tinny, hollow sound when drawers or cabinet doors are opened or closed.
Other cabinets, particularly wood kitchen cabinets, include interior vertical partition walls having apertures to accommodate shelf brackets. While metal office cabinets generally do not include interior partition walls which could provide more structural stability, there have been instances of lateral filing cabinets which include an inner side panel construction with flanged side edges which attempt to solve the sturdiness problem, but which are more costly to manufacture because of the increased need for additional thicker gauged metal to provide a double wall construction.
With regard to drawer and cabinet door attachments, cabinets or cases are known to include drawer suspension systems having a single structural glide channel which is attached by screws, nuts and bolts to both interior sides of the cabinet as well as to both sides of the drawer. Other cases are known to include drawer-glide devices having oppositely-disposed rails operably interconnected by ball rollers wherein one rail is fixedly attached to the side of the drawer, while the opposite rail is removably attached to the inner cabinet frame by means of bayonet clips formed as an integral part of the removable rail. Other drawer glide assemblies include a center drawer glide having an upper member secured to the bottom of the drawer by clips and tabs and a lower member secured to the cabinet frame by screws.
There are also known drawer cabinets having mounting tabs prewelded to the cabinet interior side walls so that drawer glide mounting systems may be attached to the cabinet interior by a simple key and keyslot locking system.
Door hinges are also well known in the art. For example, wood kitchen cabinets employ door hinges having a standard mounting base and an adjustable plate secured to the flat, solid wood surface of the inside of the kitchen cabinet. However, a common problem referred to as door sag eventually occurs after prolonged opening and closing of the doors as a result of the force and twist applied to the door by one leaning on the open end of the door.
Consequently, there exists a need to provide an attractive, yet sturdy, high quality metal case having an adaptable capability between a lateral file and a storage cabinet which includes an interior box-like inner framework having panels with openings therein which are equidistantly placed and symmetrically arranged to accommodate unhanded, snap-in drawer glides and door hinge attachments that is cost effective and does not require excess hardware or parts that can be easily misplaced.